Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert explains Alan Hutton exile

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has explained why defender Alan Hutton has been frozen out of his squad.

The Villans boss revealed that financial constraints at the club mean the Scotland international must be offloaded as soon as possible to reduce the wage bill.

"I've had good conversations with Alan and in the games I've seen him play for Scotland he's done well," Sky Sports News quotes Lambert as saying.

"It would be unlikely that he would play. He knows that anyway. We haven't fallen out. We need to get the [wage] structure down to a level. There's never been any fall-out, I've actually tried to help him get a loan move.

"I've been to a couple of Scotland games and seen him do well. You'd think somebody would come in for him. The lad has to play."

Hutton, who completed loan stints with Nottingham Forest and Majorca last season, has not played for Villa since May 2012.